WHO WE ARE

Natural resource and land managers frequently state that they need decisions to be scientifically based. Scientifically robust information is being sought more and more by all types of land managers and stakeholders. These groups include: provincial environment agencies, private land owners, parks departments, municipalities, and land trusts. This sounds straightforward, but it challenges everyone involved in conservation research and management.

It is not enough to provide decision makers with data sets, maps, charts, graphs, or even peer-reviewed articles and executive summaries. "Knowledge" is not truly made available until it is in a usable form for those decision makers, in the place and time they exist. Context matters because it allows different groups to use the same knowledge - but in different forms and for different purposes.

This requires understanding the research - how it was developed and its validity - while at the same time understanding the conservation issue that people are seeking to address, and then understanding the lens through which those people view the issue. Being a research institute, a conservation charity, and a social enterprise allows Miistakis to play the different roles necessary to broker, transfer or mobilize knowledge. Miistakis is able to take knowledge from the realm of academia to the realm of land and resource management. In this role, Miistakis may scientifically investigate conservation dilemmas, analyze policy implications, develop decision support tools, catalyze community conservation action, or all of the above.